Guys - I just got the factory rails mounted , I did it myself with a buddy, didn't drill anything, used factory bolts, used factory holes. Didn't even need silicone.

Let's see here.

Ok so , take off your stockers with an allen wrench

Look at those threaded holes... wow!

Now we realize the underside of the functional rails are locked into place with these two components on each side:

With that taken into consideration, I used the stock bolts and torque'd them down on each side almost all the way, then i slid the plastic oem rail "housings" over those to lock them into place. Here is how high I had the bolts from the roof

Then, I slid the actual stainless rails into position where all the rest of the bolts lined literally right up. I torqued those down - not even too hard. They are ROCK SOLID. I repeat, Rock SOLID. I could mount a box up there with no hesitation. So each side has I believe 6 of these bolts, just remember the outter most 2 are used to position these rails then the ones on the inside go through the actual rail. You need to have them side by side to really see this.

Am I concerned about water leaking into my car? No, not at all. Not even the slightest bit. There is NO WAY water is getting beyond any of these bolts - they are all down most if not all of the way. If you are paranoid, get silicone.

Am I concerned about weight limit? NOPE. Not at all.

Conclusion: get the OEM rails and bolt them up. At least that is what worked for me. The whole thing is rock solid. Anyone near Chicago want to see this in person feel free to reach out to me. Again, Moosehead - thanks for making this happen.

Tuned8e do you happen to have the OEM side rail numbers? I have a 2012 Altitude also and have a meeting with the dealer on Monday and would like to bring this up. I see numbers in the post earlier but want to make sure those are the exact ones you used in this process. On justforjeeps dot com they note otherwise.

Tuned8e do you happen to have the OEM side rail numbers? I have a 2012 Altitude also and have a meeting with the dealer on Monday and would like to bring this up. I see numbers in the post earlier but want to make sure those are the exact ones you used in this process. On justforjeeps dot com they note otherwise.

Thanks

Probably should of recorded markings down on those functional ones before mounting up eh?

I would say go off the part numbers I posted previously which are:
55079172AI (Right)
5079173AI (Left)

Those should be the full assembly. When I say assembly I mean the black plastic rail "housing" then the stainless "rail" that goes within that piece. When you hold these items in your hand you are going to laugh because there is nothing to them

thanks for the info. did you use your existing bolts that were with the black deco rails or the factory stainless rails hardware? Also for thought here, is on the Altitude package we have the Laredo E package which as part of that package that has a list of 2K they note bright silver side rails. So i am arguing that we have been duped.

thanks for the info. did you use your existing bolts that were with the black deco rails or the factory stainless rails hardware? Also for thought here, is on the Altitude package we have the Laredo E package which as part of that package that has a list of 2K they note bright silver side rails. So i am arguing that we have been duped.

1) Same bolts from base rails used - literally took my stock rails off and used all same bolts and bolt holes

2) Regarding why we have the non-functional rails - I think the altitude styling package overrides much of that - who knows

yes, great news and thanks for following up and for providing the great detailed post Tuned8e!

I think I am going to follow suit. Kinda sucks that I have to spend another $275 in addition to the$225 for the crossbars.

Anyone looking to sell some OEM rails???!

no problem if any of you guys have further questions let me know.

2 last things here

1) When I was going to buy the functional rails, searching online parts sites I found them as cheap as 90 a side - forget where, google those part numbers

2) I got my crossbars on ebay, the listing was "JEEP Grand Cherokee/DODGE Caravan/CHRYSLER Town&Country OE Black Cross Bars" the buy it now was like $130 but I put in an offer of $80 and the seller took it. intrigued was the seller. (This is not me) hopefully the moderator here doesn't get mad about this info

Also will note - we have had some pretty low temps in Chicago this week. I took my jeep to the local quarter wash to de-ice. Sprayed the whole car - soaked the roof , no leaks that I can see via headliner, etc.